Berlin
During its heyday as the capital of the German Empire, Berlin was home to
some of the country's largest and most influential brewers. Their trading
area stretched far to the East, but with the loss of territory to Poland
after the two world wars, the extent of their influence contracted.

The peculiar status of West Berlin for 40 years after the last war, left
the brewers penned into a small enclave, with little scope for expansion
except at each other's expense.

In the East, breweries operating under some of the same names (Kindl and
Schultheiss) continued a sort of parallel existence operating from these
companies' plants which lay in the Soviet sector.

The
good old days
Since 1989 much has been said about the poor quality of DDR beer, mostly
by those who never drank a drop of it themselves. Much is made of the lack
of adherence to the Reinheitsgebot and the lack of investment.

To begin with the former, pils and special beers were usually brewed with
around 85% malt - a percentage perfectly acceptable in most countries. In
any case, how well-established is the Reinheitsgebot in the former Prussian
territories. As far as I am aware, it only came into force in the whole
of Germany after 1901, previously having been a purely Bavarian law. Given
that it was ignored during the two world wars, this means it was only in
force in E. Berlin 1901 - 1914 and 1919 - 1939. An impressive 33 out of
the 750 years the city has been around.

As for the lack of investment and old-fashioned equipment; the same commentators
who denounce this in the DDR, are charmed by it elsewhere. Look at the praise
heaped on Cantillon or Oud Beersel in Belgium for being museums.

East Berlin Beer
On the more subjective matter of taste, the Berliner Weisse brewed by the
VEB Schultheiss Brauerei Schönhauser Allee (Abt. Weissbier) was the classic
version of the beer, unfiltered, unpasteurised, uncompromising in its flavour,
and definitely far superior to its western counterpart. The closure, in
the 1990's, of the brewery which produced it was a tragedy for beer lovers.
It had also been the first home of the revived Leipziger Gose, when the
style was brewed again in the mid-80's after a 20-year break.

Amongst pils beers, the old Bärenquell Berliner Spezial was probably
the best of all Berlin, more assertive and characterful than its western
counterparts. When served on draught, not only were the eastern beers a
good deal cheaper (around 1M for a 0.5 litre) but were much less likely
to be ruined by excessive top pressure or chilling.

Not that everything was perfect. To carry out a pub crawl required an encyclopaedic
knowledge of the diverse and bizarre opening times and a good deal of luck
when trying to find a seat. Often pubs were unspecific about which brewery
was supplying the beer and the choice available was fairly limited. With
the exception of a couple of places selling Czech beer or posh hotels with
Radeberger, there was only really locally-produced stuff available. But
what's so wrong with that, when the area has a decent number of proficient
brewers? (Go to Munich and try looking for beer from outside the city.)

A tragic (but thankfully, temporary) loss was the Weissbierstube,
which was in one of the shopping arcades by the Rotes Rathaus. They sold
a whole range of cocktails made with (the real) Berliner Weisse. (If you
look below, you'll be pleased to read that it's open again).

Berlin is home to an annual beer festival, claimed to be
the largest event of its kind in Germany. Started in 1997, it takes place
in the open air, along the Karl-Marx-Allee between the Frankfurter Tor and
Strausberger Platz (the last time I was out that way was to pick up some
documents for my wedding from the DDR Innenministerium).

240 breweries from 80 countries will be represented, offering around 1750
different beers. Also making an appearance will be yours truly. I would
like to say inconspicuously, but you know the effect of a beer diet. Expect
a few more details about the event after my return.

How to get there:
U-Bahn line 5 from Alexanderplatz to Strausberger Platz, Weberwiese or Frankfurter
Tor U-bahn station.

To be more positive, beers from old DDR breweries have made a strong comeback
in the eastern parts of Berlin. The consumer's choice has been greatly augmented
by the introduction of Czech dark lagers on draught. In Prenzlauer Berg,
always a good spot for a pub crawl and a re-enactment of selected scenes
from Cabaret, new 'Szenekneipen', trendy bars, have sprung up in
recent years.

Now, if I could only find a drop of the old Mühlhausener Pilsator on
draught somewhere.

"During the three-hour tour we visit several old breweries and other
locations related to this forgotten part of Berlin’s history. And then we
will sample the real stuff at the famous “Brauhaus Mitte” independent brewery!"

It sounds pretty interesting to me. I just wish I had heard about it before
my last trip to Berlin.

Berlin's
Brewing Industry

Berliner Weisseis another matter. A beer brewed with a hybrid yeast/lactic acid
bacteria fermentation, it has a delicious and refreshing sourness unique in Germany
(with the exception of Leipziger Gose). It can be difficult to appreciate for
those not used to sour beers. Maybe impossible is more accurate. To disguise the
challenging acidity, it's often drunk with a dash of syrup, which leaves it bright
green (with woodruff) or red (raspberry).

In style, it's closer to the wheat beers of Belgium, which are also sourish,
than the spicy South German variety. The strength is also unusual for
germany: only 9% plato or 2.5% - 3.5%. It's usually rare to find anything
under 4.5%. A wonderful and unique drink - do please try it without the
syrup. The sourness may take some getting accustomed to, but it's worth
it to appreciate the full subtlety and complexity of the flavour.

Apparently, in the past stronger versions of the beer existed. The traditional
glass didn't have a stem, as it does today, but was a more like a flat-bottomed
bowl. It looks like it had a diameter of 15cm and a height of 10cm, My vagueness
is because I'm estimating the size from an old illustration, not necassarily a
100% accurate source.

Kindl and Schultheiss have both closed several Berlin plants since 1990.

One thing that has shown remarkable resilience, is Schultheiss and Kindl's duopoly.
The two breweries have dominated the pub trade since the 1920's and don't look like
giving up their control just yet. Neither is the force they once were in German brewing
- operating in a tiny enclave of capitalism, isolated from most of their old markets,
how could they be?

Both still brew Berliner Weisse, along with numerous Pils-style beers, Schwarzbier
and Bock, of both the pale and dark varieties.

Both Kindl and Schultheiss
are currently brewing far less beer than they were at the time of re-unification.
I can't imagine that closing most of their breweries could have helped their
output figures. The closure of one of the remaining plants would effectively
put an end to Berlin as a serious brewing town. Which is what will happen
in 2006, when the Kindl plant will close.

New breweries
As elsewhere in Germany, new brewpubs have been popping up (and sometimes
dropping back down again) over the last decade. There now total about ten,
spread all around the city, but with a couple handily close together in
Berlin Mitte.

Most newcomers stick to the proven unfiltered Hell-Dunkel-Weizen formula.
Exactly the same as you can find verywhere else in Germany. Why don't any
of them brew Berliner Weisse? You tell me.

The most interesting of the new boys is Marcus-Bräu,
where the brewer has decided to stop brewing with one hand tied behind his
back. Blind adherence to the Reinheitsgebot doesn' t make much sense when you're a brewpub. You need to brew beers
that stand out from the industrial lagers of Megabräu Chemische Getränke
Fabrik GmbH. How can you do that if you're stuck with just malt hops and
yeast? The dearth of innovation in pub breweries - how many have a Hell
and a Dunkel and nothing else? (excuse me, I'm being too unkind: the more
daring now brew a Weizen, too) - illustrates my point.

The brewer at Marcus-Bräu has incurred
the wrath of some colleagues, who no doubt see his use of honey and cherries
as heresy. But Before anyone starts tying him to a stake and piling up the
brushwood, I have a few points I would like to make:

the majority of German brewers have no qualms about churning out Bier-Misch-Getränke
(vile mixtures of beer with god-knows-what-else) that are of infinitely worse
quality

adding syrup to Berliner Weisse could be a last perverted remnant of the fruit
beer tradition

Beer
Styles
Beers are mostly limited to the bog-standard German lager styles of Pils,Export with the odd Bock thrown in for
fun in the Winter. More recently, Schwarzbier, the new favourite
in the East, has turned up in Berlin brewhouses.

Be warned that the vast majority is pils, pils and more pils (with perhaps a pilsner
for variation). But isn't that true of almost everywhere nowadays? Beer quality is
reasonable, probably a bit higher than in the country as a whole. At least none of
the local breweries has gone over to "Billig-Bier", the sort of muck that
Oettingen stack up to supermarket ceilings. But it pays not to get too complacent
- who could have imagined 20 years ago the state the German brewing industry is in
today?

Old Berlin beer styles
Berliner Weisse apart, there is little very stylistically interesting or different
about the beers brewed in Berlin today. The lager revolution in the 19th Century
washed away all the rest of the top-fermenting tradition. Lager (the dark, Munich
type) was first brewed in 1827 or 1828. Before then, there had been three main styles:

Braunbier

Bitterbier

Berliner Weisse

Within 50 years of their introduction, bottom-fermenting
beers outsold the traditional Berlin styles. Only Berliner Weisse made it past WW
I.

Berlin
Pubs

This is a list of a few pubs in the city. North Germany can be a great
disappointment for thirsty visitors. Bland bars - where formica still rules
- can be found with depressing ease. The décor is in a dull international
style, which even manages to make some of Britain's modernised pubs look
interesting and cosy. Take a look at pre-WW I (or pre WW II, for that matter)
postcards of beerhalls, beergardens and Eck-Kneipen. All of them are far
more inviting than their present-day equivalents. I can't believe that every
pub in Berlin got gutted in the war.

At least Berlin has some life in the evenings. I must confess to being gobsmacked
by the tiny percentage of beer sold on draught
in Germany (just under 20%). That explains the dead pubs I've found so often.
Nuremberg is a good example: decent size population, pleasant city centre,
not a soul to be seen in any of the pubs. Unfortunately, as in a lot of
North Germany, a lot of places are bland bars, with nothing to recommend
, especially in the city centre.

As in most of Germany, most pubs of any size serve meals, often quite traditional
in nature and usually pretty good value. Of course, it will be pretty heavy
on meaty and fried things, with the odd half pig plonked in front of you.

Public transport
Berlin has an extensive network of trams, trains and underground. In a city
of this size, you're going to have to use public transport, unless you have
your own chauffeur.

I'm delighted to be able to report the return of the Weissbierstuben.
Yet another bar in the Nikolaiviertel,
it's on the very edge, just a few doors along from the Rotes Rathaus.
During the final days of the DDR, this one one of my favourite spots for
downing a few glasses of the delicious East-Berlin-brewed Weisse.

The idea is to recreate an old-fashioned Berlin Weisse pub. Somehow I can't imagine
that back-street boozers ever looked quite this plush. Perhaps a bit too up-market
to be 100% authentic. Still, it does sell all sorts of Weisse cocktails and is in
a very useful location. Believe me, after a while in Berlin city centre you'll be
happy to find anywhere half-decent to slake your thirst.

My enduring memory of this bar is watching two - rather sheepish looking, it must
be said - East Berlin skinheads drinking a beer. That was in 1988, before such characters
acquired a more sinister air.

The food, like the beer, is traditional Berlin style. There is outdoor seating for
120 people.

I just had to include another Nikolaiviertel
pub, this time one of my great favourites, Zum Nußbaum. The exterior,
with its enormous, steep roof, is a delight for the eye. The location -
right opposite the Nikolai Kirche - is also top-class. If you can't find
your way here, then you're beyond my help.

Nußbaum is not quite what it seems. Let's take a walk back through
time, to those long gone days of the DDR. I've never quite been able to
understand why the communist governments of eastern Europe got so slagged
off for long-term planning. A look at the UK rail network demonstrates what
happens when you decide to do without it. To celebrate Berlin's 750th anniversary
in 1987, the East German authorities decided to rebuild the area around
the Nikolai Kirche, which had been pretty much bombed flat in the war. The
fact that it was here that Berlin took its first cautious steps on the journey
to Weltstadt, must have made it appear an appropriate choice.

I generally have nothing but contempt for the bunglers claiming to be town
planners, but this is one occasion when they got things spectacularly right.
The buildings and the layout of the streets are deliberately small-scale
and intimate, replicating the feel of an old town centre. Yet the majority
of the buildings are unashamedly modern in their method of construction
and detailing. Essentially, it's a "Plattenbau" type of flat, shaped into
streets following a medieval street plan. It sounds dreadful if you describe
it like that, but it is surprisingly effective. (It makes you realise that
in the disastrous suburban housing estates of the postwar period - they're
to be found in both East and West - the streetplan is main problem, not
the flats themselves.) This is one of the rare occasions, when planners
deserve a hefty pat on the back.

But the Nikolaiviertel
isn't all Plattenbau. In some places famous old Berlin landmarks have been
reconstructed, though mostly far from their original site. Nußbaum
belongs in this group. Until 1943, when it fell victim to Allied bombs,
it had been Berlin's oldest pub, dating from 1571. It wasn't in the centre,
however, but in Alt-Cölln that the original was located. I'm only guessing
here, but I suspect that it was chosen for reconstruction because: it was
Berlin's oldest pub; it had strong associations with Zille, who had been
a regular; they had plenty of detailed photos to work from.

Today, Nußbaum has a series of small, rather cramped rooms, which
must mirror the original layout. No-one in their right mind would deliberately
design a pub to be like this. The furniture mimics the anarchic tendencies
of the architecture. But you couldn't fill rooms like these with a
pristine set of modern tables and chairs. Now that would look daft.

The food is contemporary Thai/Californian crossover, with a touch of Vietnamese.
No, it isn't. I'm just kidding. Of course, Nußbaum really provides
a selection of traditional Berlin dishes.

Georgbräu is a large pub brewery in one of the modern
buildings of the Nikolaiviertel.
A collection of different sized rooms set out in the typical beer hall style
- fairly simple furniture, lots of wood, big tables. Not a bad try at creating
the traditional German beer pub in a modern building.

The terrace outside overlooking the River Spree (had I told you that the pub was on
the river?. No, I didn't think I had. The address - Spree Ufer - is a hint for if
you have a smattering of German and can remember the name of the river) is very scenic
but, I have been warned, can be smelly in the Summer.

As is usual in the modern interpretation of a pub brewery, the copper viewing vessels
are used as a decorative feature and are prominently placed in the bar. Around them
are clumped a series of panelled rooms, furnished in a traditional, robust manner

The regular house beers are (how unusual) a pale and a dark lager. They aren't bad,
but aren't anything special.

It isn't a downtown crowded with soaring towers that an ambitious metropole
needs to define its identity, but a pub that everyone can agree is the city's oldest.
A lack of any real evidence to back the claim (which is often the case) isn't a problem,
as long as you can achieve a general consensus.

Letzten Instanz is the undisputed champion survivor of Berlin's destructive history.
Originally called "Biedermeierstübchen am Glockenspiel" it acquired its current
name in 1924. Though, it only gained the honour by default, after all it's rivals
were nobbled during WW II, first by the RAF and then by a rather clumsy Red Army.
However, one of them wasn't going to let a little thing like total destruction get
it down.

It took 40 years, but Nussbaum did do that rising thing that, you know,
those birds with the serious fire mangement issues - what you call those
things? it starts with a "P' - do. "Partridge?" Yeah, that's the one. So
when Nussbaum arose like a partridge from its own ashes, they must have
been shitting themselves down at the Instanz. Now, if they had rebuilt it
en situ (that will be a fiver please Dave for my successful incorporation
of all the required phrases), then Instanz could have been trying to swim
in a lake of doo-doo.

Unless the builder had the foresight to carve the year over the door, any founding
date before 1977 can be a bit vague. 1621 is the one chosen here. The 1 at the end
is a subtle touch - it makes it so much more believable. A nice round date like 1620
would have been much more suspicious.

Not many people know this, but Berlin once had another wall - not the Antifascist
Protection Barrier - but one they stuck up in the Middle Ages. What little
remains is just around the corner from Letzten Instanz. With a history like
Berlin's, you would have to be pretty thick to imagine finding more than
a couple of stones.

(Talking of thickoes,
I have to tell you a story about about learning from experience. We
were having a quite animated conversation, my manager and I, as usual.
He had a several anger management issues. Though nothing like as serious
as his management management issues: being a useless, incompetent bully
with a hearing challenge - an inability to listen to anyone but himself.
I've rarely been shocked by anything I've heard at work, but this sent
a shiver right to the toes of my DM's. Whilst trying to explain one
of his characteristic get-angry-first-think-later moments (later being
2077) he claimed to have deliberately used "simulated anger" as a method
of "getting me back on track". Sitting firmly on the rails, I felt humbled
by his unerring ability to select exactly the wrong approach to solve
any problem. An outside observer remarked to him that, as the later
sequence of events proved to be true, his "simulated" shouting and "simulated"
turning purple in the face (I would love to have such total control
my body) had not produced their intended result, perhaps other tactics
would have been more appropriate.

Human being: "If you had the chance now, knowing how badly wrong things went the
first time, to act differently, would you?

Manager: "No"

Few have ever spoken so eloquently on the need to give managers the
freedom to manage. Isn't the greatest part of intelligence this: the
ability to analyse our past actions, observe their effect on those around
us and, if the end result is not what was expected, to modify our behaviour
until we get the response we want? I was impressed by my manager's radically
different approach to conflict resolution. Keep shouting long enough
(but do remember to keep your mind and ears firmly shut) until you get
what you want, My youngest son (or Psycho Kid, as some of my less tolerant
friends call him) is very committed to this approach. But, as years
pass we all mellow. He's almost five now, and clever enough to realise
that screaming until you get your own way, isn't always the best approach
to social interaction.

I want to know this: at what age does a manager acquire analytical skills equal
to those of a five-year hyperactive sociopath?

Is it just me, or is there no greater pleasure than sitting opposite
a twat manager, seeing how purple you can get his face to turn? (Unless
it's making bets with colleagues on how many minutes he can speak before
saying "proactive". His record is two.)

The charming, old-fashioned wooden interior was rescued and tastefully repaired in
1961-63 after extensive war damage. If you see photos of the state it was in after
1945, you might well wonder how on earth it was able to open at all before the renovation.
It has a rambling, anarchic layout, with rooms on different levels. Just what you
would expect of a pub which has grown and evolved over a couple of hundred years.

To the left of the entrance is a small bar counter topped with a porcelain beer tap,
surrounded by a few stand-up tables and a tiled stove. This is very typical of traditional
Berlin bars. Panelled walls, red flagged floors and rickety old furniture are the
recurring themes in a series of rooms which stretch over 3 houses and two stories.
Some old enamel beer signs and a few old prints form the only additional decoration.
It's sad to think how rare this sort of bar - once typical of Berlin - has become.
I have a horrible feeling that the war can't take all the blame.

Not a great deal has changed since re-unification, except that the landlord (who has
been behind the bar since 1986) has taken over the property from the HO. Let's hope
that's how things stay. The centre of Berlin can't afford to lose any of its few remaining
original pubs.

A surprisingly cosy pub in an otherwise pretty dismal part of the city. There is a
small beer garden in the Summer.

Lemke's is a large, modern brewpub in railway arches just
along from Hackescher Markt S-Bahn station. It produces two regular beers
and a variety of seasonal beers.

Inside, you'll find the ubiquitous industrial ducting, a bland brick bar
and a surprisingly small brewing kit. It's pleasny enough, if a little dull.
The rumbling of trains overhead is a disconcerting at first, but you soon
get used to it. Outside there's a small beer garden.

Central Berlin is much richer in historical buildings than may at first
seem the case. The district stretching out behind Hackescher Markt is a good example.
It's here that you can find one of the largest concentrations of pre-1870 buildings
in the city. Towards the end of the DDR era, a good deal of effort was expended in
returnng Sophienstrasse and neighbouring streets to something like their original
appearance. Time and money very well spent, if you ask me.

Sophieneck occupies a triangular plot at the junction of Große Hamburger Straße
and Sophienstraße. It's a traditional corner pub with a few seats on the pavement.
It has a simple interior with film and beer memorabilia scattered around the walls.
Wooden floors, and uncomplicated wooden furniture are the order of the day. It seems
a fair try at a slightly fashionable and contemporary take on the traditional Berlin
kneipe.

Unusually for Berlin, you can find both Kölsch and Alt on draught. Not a bad
beer range for a non-specialist outlet.

Deponie Nr.3 may not be the most memorable name I've ever
encountered, but it is in a very handy central location. by Friedrichstraße
station (how many delightful hours I've spent there queuing up to get a
day visa). There is an explanation for the odd name: this used to be the
tank garage of the NVA barracks Friedrich Engels. Only at the end
of 1992 was it opened as a pub (there probably wasn't much space for tables
between the T-62s).

It's another pub located in the arches under the S-Bahn, this time between
Friedrichstrasse and Museuminsel.

The interior is a mixture of traditional Berlin kneipe and industrial chic.
If you think that sounds a strange juxtaposition, well, I'm not going to
argue wuth you. I'm starting to tire of ducting. The various items of furniture
(including a substatial carved bar back) that have been looted from old
corner pubs can't be faulted, but look ill at ease in their cavernous surroundings.
Let's try to look on the bright side. It could be so much worse.

It is only a short walk to Alexanderpiatz from where you
can take the U-Bahn to Prenzlauer Berg. Take the line in the direction Pankow
(Vinetastrasse) and get off at Senefelderpiatz. This will bring you to within
a hundred metres of the next stopping off point, the Metzer Eck (16-1)
on the corner of Metzerstrasse and Strassbourgerstrasse.

The street has the crumbling plaster facades typical of the whole area,
but don't be put off by the apparent delapidation, for this is the real
Berlin. The Metzer Eck is a small pub, which somehow managed to remain in
private hands throughout the DDR period.

Restauration 1900 isn't the snappiest name I've heard, but
it is accurate. It's a restored corner local, dating from the start of the
20th century.

Towards the end of the DDR period, Husemannstrasse was restored to something
like its original appearance. Unlike most of Prenzlauer Berg, where the
crumbling plaster facades were still pock-marked from wartime bullets.

Inside it's simple, but cosy. Old photos of Husemannstrasse, illustrating
the many changes it has undergone, form the main decoration. It's depressing
to see how the restored shop fronts have been replaced by typical crappy
modern ones since reunification.

A personal inclusion here. I first drank Tokay in this cellar
restaurant beneath Köpenick town hall. You could try recreating that momentous
event, but I doubt that a bottle still costs 3 M. (One of the most romantic
and memorable meals of my life cost little more than the price of a pint
in Hampstead. It sums up the DDR - good value.)

You have to hand it to the Germans when it comes to being practical. Who
else uses the empty space under a public building as a boozer?

Köpenick is a rather pleasant small lakeside town that has been swallowed
up by Berlin. Frederick the Great had a pad here. Perhaps he was equally
bored by the pretentious brutalism of Berlin city centre.

One of the more recent additions to Berlin's brewpubs. Here at Potsdamer
Platz they have tried to build a new city centre for Berlin. And here was me thinking
that the two they already have is one too many.

I know that Potsdammer Platz is a prestige project, but silver plating the brewing
vessels is just a little too flash for me. I believe them 100% when they claim their
kit is the only one of its kind in the world. No-one else would be so pointlessly
extravagant. It doesn't look any different to me from stainless steel. Somewhere between
kitsch and contemporary must have been the designer's brief.

The food is a Bavarian and Austrian in style, which will do me just fine. The prices
(10-15 euros for a a main course) can't be moaned about, either.

The brewpub is owned and run by Hofbräuhaus Traunstein (it's amazing how many
Hofbräus they have in Bavaria), who just happen to brew one of my favourite beers
in the Spezial style.

Rating:

Public transport:

Brauhaus J.Albrecht Zum Alten Fritz

Karolinenstraße 12,13507 Berlin.
Tel. 433 5010

Opening hours:Sun - Thu: 11:00-01:00
Fri - Sat 11:00-03:00

Number of draught beers: 2

Number of bottled beers: ?

Regular draught beers:

Messing

Kupfer

Food: Snacks, meals.

Pub brewery in the north Berlin suburb of Tegel opened in 1992. The
pub itself is called Zum Alten Fritz (after Frederick the Great). The Messing is a
pale beer and the Kupfer a dark beer. The company has another pub brewery in Neukölln.
It has a large restaurant which seats 250 people. In the Summer, there is a beergarden
which holds 450.

Brewpub, reputedly the smallest brewery in Berlin. Very bravely,
its brewer has ditched the Reinheitsgebot
and as a consequence can brew a whole range of beer styles that are normally
impossible in Germany.

Brewpub hidden away in a housing estate. Has a beer garden.
This what Gazza has to say about
it:

"As has been said to me a few times, this is an unusual place.
A sort of „alternative“ type venue in the inner courtyard of a large block
of Stalinist flats with the brewery visible through large windows above.
A small cellar-bar serves as the brewert tap and has the usual 3 regular
beers on sale – Pils, Dunkel and Weiss – plus specials if you’re lucky;
the next one will be Alter Schwede on 02 December! All beers were rather
average, unfortunately.

From Leopoldplatz U-Bahn (U6 and U9 interchange) walk down Luxemburgerstrasse
for 50 metres and turn left into Genterstrasse. Continue down here until
the end where the aforementioned block of flats is located; head round
the right-hand side, through a kind of garden, then turn left into the
courtyard following the signs and you’ll come see the brewery on your
right at eye-level. Pub is down the steps below. It’s easier to find than
it sounds."

"The newest brewpub in Berlin, so new that the production beers
won’t be on until 28th November! Similar to Lemkes (it’s in a railway
arch) situated just west of Bellevue station. The tiny brewplant in the
window will brew specials all year round apparently, and the food sounds
good too. We had to make do with a beer from Eschenbräu as the owner wouldn’t
let me blag any of his beer!

Take the S-Bahn to Bellevue. Exit station and walk beside the north of
the arches along Flensburger Strasse – you’ll see the brewplant in the
6th arch along after crossing Bartningallee."